Viewer

ABSTRACT

A collapsible device for viewing two images of an object to produce a three-dimensional effect. The images are mounted in a card which can be replaced in the device when other images are to be viewed.

Nerlich [45] ay 22, 1973 [54] VIEWER 2,934,999 5/1960 Baumel ..350 140 Inventor: Gunter Nerfich, Toronto, Ontario 3,462,210 8/1969 Monzall ..350/14O Canada FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 7 A I 3] sslgnee Dlmenslonal Producm 1,262,757 4/1961 France ..350 140 Toronto, Ontario, Canada [22] Filed: Mar. 24, 1971 21 Appl. No.2 127,747

2,933,015 4/1960 Somach .:...350 140 Primary ExaminerR0nald L, Wibert Assistant Examiner-Paul A. Sacher Attorney-Rogers, Bereskin & Parr [57] ABSTRACT A collapsible device for viewing two images of an object to produce a three-dimensional effect. The images are mounted in a card which can be replaced in the device when other images are to be viewed.

2 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTED MAY 2 2 i975 SHEET 2 [IF 2 FIG.

VIEWER This invention relates to a device for simultaneously viewing two images of an object to produce a three dimensional effect, the viewer being formed from folded paper and being collapsible for mailing and storage.

Information is commonly transmitted by visual means such as television, cinema and the like and by sound means such as tapes, records and the like. There is however, a trend towards combining the advantages of both visual and audio systems by providing some means of visual projection linked on a time base to an audio system.

A major problem of most combined systems is that the person who is learning from the communication must either take notes or refer to booklets afterwards to refresh his memory. This is mainly because of the expense involved in providing each member of a class with his own viewer or visual system which he can retain for his personal use. It would therefore be desirable to have a viewer for use in class and which is sufficiently inexpensive that it can be distributed to the class for each members personal use.

According to one of the aspects of the present invention, a viewer is provided which is relatively economic to produce and which can be stored relatively conveniently.

In another of its aspects, the present invention provides a collapsible viewer of a type suitable for use with two photographic images simultaneously to provide a so-called three-dimensional effect.

These and other aspects of the invention will be better understood with reference to the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a viewer according to the invention, and partly disassembled to show internal structure;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view on lines 2-2 of the viewer and showing a card for insertion in the viewer;

FIG. 3 is a blank for making the viewer; and

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate an alternative embodiment of the viewer.

Reference is first made to FIGS. 1 and 2 which show a viewer having respective front, intermediate and rear walls 12, 14 and 16 extending vertically between a top wall 18 and a bottom wall 20, and end walls 21, 22 extending downwardly from respective longitudinal edges of the top wall 18. A transverse slot 23 is provided in the top wall 18 immediately adjacent to and rearwardly of the intermediate wall 14 to provide access for a card 24 on which are mounted respective pairs of photographic transparencies 26, 28.

The transparencies 26 are arranged in card 24 so that when the card is positioned in slot 23, the transparencies 26 are in registration with a pair of rectangular openings 30 (one of which is shown) in intermediate wall 14. Transparencies 28 can be viewed by inverting the card 24 before entering it into slot 23. Rectangular openings 32 are also provided in front wall 12 and a strip of plastic 34 is adhered to the inner side of wall 12 to diffuse light passing through the openings 32. Wall 16 includes a pair of circular openings 36 each of which is aligned with respective ones of the openings 30 and 32 and transparencies 26. Each of the openings 36 has one ofa pair of plastic lenses 38 engaged in the opening so that when a user holds the viewer up to a light source, he sees the transparencies 26 illuminated by light diffused by the plastic strip 34. Each of the pairs of transparencies 26 shows an object (eg a car) from two slightly different angles so that the person is aware of a three dimensional effect when he views the object.

Reference is next made to FIGS. 2 and 3 to describe a blank 40 for making the viewer. As better seen in FIG. 3, bottom wall 20, front wall 12, top wall 18, and rear wall 16 are rectangular in shape and joined along respective fold or score lines 41, 42 and 43. A rectangular bottom inner wall 45 extends from a fold line on the border of rear wall 16 and terminates in a fold line 47 at the border of intermediate wall 14. A further fold line 48 joins the wall 14 to a top inner wall 49 having a free end 50.

The end walls 21, 22 extend from longitudinal folds 51, 52 at the edges of top wall 18 and terminate at respective fold lines 53, 54 from which tabs 55, 56 and closure flaps 57, 58 depend.

The bottom wall 20 has stepped longitudinal edges having respective outer and inner sections 59, 60 to facilitate assembly as will be described. A central portion 62 between the portions 59 is covered by an adhesive layer and extends from a free edge 64 of the wall 20 and terminates at a point on a level with the junction of the sections 59, 60. The transverse extent of the glued portion 62 is such that there are parts of the bottom wall 20 between the portion 62 and the sections 59 sufficient to receive the closure flaps 57,58.

The top wall 18 also has an adhesive covering over a portion 66 bordered by the slot 23, and the fold lines 43, 51, and 52. Further adhesive coverings are applied to the tabs 55, 56 to facilitate assembly. All of the adhesive layers are on surfaces which face inwardly upon assembly. To facilitate description, the surface of the blank shown in FIG. 3 will be described as the inner surface and the opposite surface as the outer surface.

To assemble the blank 40, the plastic strip 34 is first adhered to the inner side of the wall 12 about openings 32. Next, the lenses 38 are pushed into respective openings 36 and held in place either by friction or by a suitable adhesive. Next, the tabs 55,56 are folded about respective fold lines 53, 54 and the adhesive on the tabs holds the tabs against respective end walls 21, 22. The blank is then folded about lines 48, 47, 46 and 43 to bring adhesive on the inner surface of wall 18 into contact with the outer surface of top inner wall 49. The wall 49 is positioned such that the free end 50 is located in registration with the rear wall 16, as better seen in FIG. 2.

Next, the blank is folded about fold lines 42, 41 to bring the central portion 62 of wall 20 into registration with an outer surface of bottom inner wall 45 with free edge 64 of wall 20 in registration with fold line 46. The closure flaps 57, 58 are then engaged between bottom wall 20 and bottom inner wall 45. The stepped longitudinal edges of the bottom wall 20 facilitate separation of the longitudinal edges of wall 20 and wall 45 to enter the closure flaps 57, 58. Because the walls 20 and 45 are adhesively connected, the flaps 57, 58 must be pushed into place against frictional forces which tend to retain the flaps in position.

Once assembled, transverse edges 68, 70 of respective tabs 55, 56 are aligned with a first edge 72 of slot 23 and intermediate wall 14 is aligned with a second edge 74 of the slot 23. As a result, when the card 24 (FIG. 2) is entered into slot 23, it is guided by the slot and also by the edges 68, 70 in combination with the wall 14. The card is therefore held in a position at right angles to the path followed by light in passing through the openings 32, 30 and lenses 38 (FIG. 1).

After use, the viewer can be collapsed by removing the closure flaps 57, 58 and then pushing the top wall 18 downwardly and forwardly to bring the top and bottom inner walls 49, 45 into contact. In this position the viewer can be placed in an envelope or into a users pocket for convenient storage. Also, the viewer can be mailed together with a selection of cards with simple instructions either to completely assemble the viewer or partially assemble it by simply inserting the closure flaps 57, 58.

Reference is next made to FIGS. 4 and 5 which show a further embodiment of the invention and in which parts already described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 are given primed numerals. In this embodiment, the opening 36' in walls 16' is of smaller diameter than the lens 38. The bottom wall 20' terminates in an extension 76 having a longitudinal extent sufficient to cover the rear wall 16' and having openings 78 of the same diameter as opening 36'. The extension is adhesively secured to the wall 16' about openings 36' and 78 so that lenses 38 are located between extension 76 and wall 16'.

I claim:

1. A blank for a collapsible viewer, said blank having inner and outer surfaces and comprising: a bottom wall; a front wall; a top wall; a rear wall; a bottom inner wall; an intermediate wall; and a top inner wall, the walls being rectangular and arranged longitudinally in seriatim, the boundaries between walls being defined by fold lines; each said front, intermediate, and rear walls defining pairs of openings, said bottom wall having a central adhesive area on the inner surface for attachment to the outer surface at the bottom inner wall; said top wall defining a transversely extending slot and having an adhesive area on the inner surface between the slot and the rear wall for attachment to the outer surface at the top inner wall, the walls being proportioned so that on assembly the front, intermediate and rear walls are upright and substantially at right angles to said top wall and so that the top inner wall extends rearwardly from a transverse edge of said slot nearer said rear wall, said blank further comprising end walls dependent from respective longitudinal edges of said top wall, each said end wall terminating in a closure flap and a tab foldable about a common fold line with the closure flap, the common fold line defining a longitudinal periphery of an end wall, the inner surface of the tabs having adhesive areas for securing the tabs to respective inner surfaces of the end walls and each of the closure flaps being adapted on assembly of the viewer to be releasably engaged between the, bottom wall and the bottom inner wall to rigidify the viewer, respective edges of the tabs then being aligned with the other transverse edge of the slot to better locate a card in the viewer.

2. A collapsible viewer comprising: a front wall and a rear wall extending transversely; a pair of end walls extending longitudinally, the walls being generally rectangular and upright; a top wall and a bottom wall coupled to respective upper and lower edges of said front, rear and end walls, said top wall defining a slot extending transversely between the side walls and located intermediate the front and rear walls for entering a card on which is mounted a pair of transversely spaced photographic transparencies; the front wall defining a pair of openings for permitting light to enter the viewer in alignment with the transparencies; a pair of lenses coupled to the rear wall and aligned optically on respective common axes with the openings and the transparencies for viewing the transparencies; means coupled to the front wall and covering the front wall openings for diffusing light to more evenly illuminate the transparencies; an upright intermediate wall terminating at a first transverse edge of the slot; a pair of tabs adhered one to each of the inner surfaces of the end walls such that an upright edge of each tab terminates in vertical alignment with a second transverse edge of the slot whereby upon entering the card in the slot, the intermediate wall and the tabs locate the card longitudinally in a position spaced from the diffusing means and from the lenses; a bottom inner wall extending between the intermediate wall and the rear wall; means securing the inner wall to the bottom wall adjacent the transverse centre of the inner wall; and a pair of closure flaps dependent from respective end walls and adapted to engage be tween the inner wall and the bottom wall to rigidify the viewer, the viewer being collapsible upon removal of the closure flaps from between the inner and bottom walls. 

1. A blank for a collapsible viewer, said blank having inner and outer surfaces and comprising: a bottom wall; a front wall; a top wall; a rear wall; a bottom inner wall; an intermediate wall; and a top inner wall, the walls being rectangular and arranged longitudinally in seriatim, the boundaries between walls being defined by fold lines; each said front, intermediate, and rear walls defining pairs of openings, said bottom wall having a central adhesive area on the inner surface for attachment to the outer surface at the bottom inner wall; said top wall defining a transversely extending slot and having an adhesive area on the inner surface between the slot and the rear wall for attachment to the outer surface at the top inner wall, the walls being proportioned so that on assembly the front, intermediate and rear walls are upright and substantially at right angles to said top wall and so that the top inner wall extends rearwardly from a transverse edge of said slot nearer said rear wall, said blank further comprising end walls dependent from respective longitudinal edges of said top wall, each said end wall terminating in a closure flap and a tab foldable about a common fold line with the closure flap, the common fold line defining a longitudinal periphery of an end wall, the inner surface of the tabs having adhesive areas for securing the tabs to respective inner surfaces of the end walls and each of the closure flaps being adapted on assembly of the viewer to be releasably engaged between the bottom wall and the bottom inner wall to rigidify the viewer, respective edges of the tabs then being aligned with the other transverse edge of the slot to better locate a card in the viewer.
 2. A collapsible viewer comprising: a front wall and a rear wall extending transversely; a pair of end walls extending longitudinally, the walls being generally rectangular and upright; a top wall and a bottom wall coupled to respective upper and lower edges of said front, rear and end walls, said top wall defining a slot extending transversely between the side walls and located intermediate the front and rear walls for entering a card on which is mounted a pair of transversely spaced photographic transparencies; the front wall defining a pair of openings for permitting light to enter the viewer in alignment with the transparencies; a pair of lenses coupled to the rear wall and aligned optically on respective common axes with the openings and the transparencies for viewing the transparencies; means coupled to the front wall and covering the front wall openings for diffusing light to more evenly illuminate the transparencies; an upright intermediate wall terminating at a first transverse edge of the slot; a pair of tabs adhered one to each of the inner surfaces of the end walls such that an upright edge of each tab terminates in vertical alignment with a second transverse edge of the slot whereby upon entering the card in the slot, the intermediate wall and the tabs locate the card longitudinally in a position spaced from the diffusing means and from the lenses; a bottom inner wall extending between the intermediate walL and the rear wall; means securing the inner wall to the bottom wall adjacent the transverse centre of the inner wall; and a pair of closure flaps dependent from respective end walls and adapted to engage between the inner wall and the bottom wall to rigidify the viewer, the viewer being collapsible upon removal of the closure flaps from between the inner and bottom walls. 